Practical Technology

for practical people.

March 10, 2011
by sjvn01
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Chrome 10 vs. Internet Explorer 9 Reconsidered

When I recently took a look at the brand new Chrome 10 Web browser, the results for the latest release candidate of Internet Explorer (IE) 9 puzzled me because they were so bad. Some of my readers were more than puzzled. Some were outraged and accused me of deliberating trying to set up IE to fail. Please. I call them like I see them and, in my tests, the IE 9 RC was just dreadfully slow compared to the others.

Still, as I said, I wasn’t happy with my results. When I started hearing from people that I respected, like my ZDNet bud Ed Bott, that he was also seeing results that put IE 9 RC just ahead of Chrome, I decided to re-run my benchmarks and take a closer look at my results.

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March 9, 2011
by sjvn01
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HP: The Linux Desktop Company

Well, I didn’t see this coming. HP CEO Leo Apotheker, according to Bloomberg/Newsweek said that “every one of the PCs shipped by HP will include the ability to run WebOS in addition to Microsoft Corp.’s Windows.” I knew HP was serious about webOS, its Linux-based tablet/smartphone operating system. I didn’t know that HP was this serious.

For years, with the exception of Dell, most major PC vendors have been very reluctant to offer desktop Linux. This has been because they were afraid of upsetting the 800-pound gorilla of desktop operating systems: Microsoft.

The sales were there. I’ve been told by sources both at Dell and Canonical that pre-installed Ubuntu Linux PC sales alone have been in the millions. That may not be a lot compared to Windows, but given how hard most PC companies have made it to even shop for Linux-powered PCs, I think it’s darn impressive.

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March 8, 2011
by sjvn01
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Chrome 10: Close to a perfect Web Browser 10

I’ve liked the Google Chrome Web browser since it first showed up in 2008. Today, with the slipstream release of Chrome 10, I may finally be ready to retire all my other Web browsers.

The reason I’m considering doing this is quite simple. Chrome 10 is screamingly fast. It’s more than ten-times faster than its first version was in dealing with JavaScript. It also leads all other of today’s Web-browsers when it comes to raw JavaScript processing speed with its new “Crankshaft” V8 JavaScript engine.

How much faster? Well on the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark 0.91 test, Chrome left most, but not all of the other Web browsers eating its dust. I tested Chrome 10 on my Mint Linux 10 PC and was impressed. For benchmarking it though I decided to run it on my Windows 7 SP 1 system so that the forthcoming Internet Explorer 9 could get its innings in.

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March 7, 2011
by sjvn01
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Beyond Natty: The next version of Ubuntu Linux

Well, we dodged a bullet. Instead of Octopoid Octopus, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu Linux and its parent company Canonical, has chosen Oneiric Ocelot for Ubuntu’s November 2011 version name.

Unless you’re a film maven, your first question is probably: “What’s Oneiric!?” I know it as a film criticism term for dream sequences in a movie. Or as Shuttleworth explained, “Oneiric means “dreamy”, and the combination with Ocelot reminds me of the way innovation happens: part daydream, part discipline.” I’ll buy that. But, let’s get down to brass tacks: What does this mean? What can we expect from this version?

For starters, you should keep in mind that the next version of Ubuntu, Natty Narwhal, is going to be quite different from the current version of Ubuntu. The most striking difference is that starting with Ubuntu 11.04, Ubuntu will be using the Unity desktop instead of GNOME 3. In addition, it will the April Ubuntu will be using several new default applications, including Banshee to play music, and its windowing system will be based on Wayland instead of the X Window System.

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March 4, 2011
by sjvn01
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Things grow worse in Libya and the Internet is switched off

Two weeks ago, as unrest grew in Libya, the Libyan government turned off the Internet, and began to kill off its rebellious citizens. Afterwards, the Internet slowly came back on, but now, according to Arbor Networks, Libya’s Internet has been shut down as if a switch has been flipped.

Which, all things considered, might have been exactly what happened. You see Libya’s Internet is owned and controlled by the government through a telecommunication company Libya Telecom & Technology. Even its site is down now.

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